Modifications of graduate public/community health nursing internships to facilitate compliance with Institutional Review Board and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations.

This paper describes the changes that were made to a two-semester graduate internship course to facilitate student compliance with Institutional Review Board (IRB) and agency requirements for compliance with the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Students now spend the first semester of the internship developing collaborative relationships with the agency and conceptualizing, planning, and developing all aspects of the project, including preparing materials for an IRB review. A series of workshops about the IRB process, the Privacy Rule of HIPAA, and on-line resources have been developed. A password-protected web site and other resources were developed for preceptors. The result of the changes has been primarily positive. By having to conceptualize and develop the entire project at the beginning, students demonstrate a better understanding of program development and evaluation. Their writing has markedly improved. Preceptors like the course revisions, the convenience of on-line resources, and the enhanced course focus on the protection of health care information and of potential participants in health education programs or program evaluation projects.